Tony’s All Beef Meatloaf

Tony made the meatloaf this week.  His recipe is based on a recipe from the America’s Test Kitchen television show.  Here it is:

Meat Loaf, original recipe can be found here (registration required)

1 T unsalted butter 

1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)

1 medium rib celery , chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)

1 medium clove garlic, minced

2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves   

1 tsp paprika  

1/4 spicy Bloody Mary mix 

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth 

2 large eggs  

1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin (powdered) 

1 T soy sauce 

2/3 cup crushed saltine crackers  

2 T minced fresh parsley leaves 

3/4 tsp table salt  

1/2 tsp ground black pepper  

2 lbs 85% ground beef

Glaze ingredients

1/2 cup ketchup  

1 tsp hot pepper sauce 

1/2 tsp ground coriander 

1/4 cup cider vinegar 

3 T packed light brown sugar 

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming; add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and add Bloody Mary mix. Cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits from pan, until thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to small bowl and set aside to cool.

Whisk broth and eggs in large bowl until combined. Sprinkle gelatin over liquid and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, saltines, parsley, salt, pepper, and onion mixture. Add ground beef; mix gently with hands until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Transfer meat to foil rectangle* and shape into 10 by 6-inch oval about 2 inches high. Smooth top and edges of meat loaf with moistened spatula. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of loaf reads 135 to 140 degrees, 55 to 65 minutes.** Remove meat loaf from oven and turn on broiler.

While meat loaf cooks, combine ingredients for glaze in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring, until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Spread half of glaze evenly over cooked meat loaf with rubber spatula; place under broiler and cook until glaze bubbles and begins to brown at edges, about 5 minutes. Remove meat loaf from oven and spread evenly with remaining glaze; place back under broiler and cook until glaze is again bubbling and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes more. Let meat loaf cool about 20 minutes before slicing.

*  To cook as the original recipe asks, create a foil rectangle that roughly is the size of your meatloaf.  Pierce this rectangle with a fork all over.

**  Then place the rectangle on a cooling rack that is set in a baking sheet.  Place the meat on top of the foil and then bake.  This arrangement should allow juices to flow away from the meat while cooking. 

Tony made 2 omissions from the recipe: Monterey Jack cheese and dijon mustard.  He fully admits that he dropped the ball on those ingredients as he just plain forgot to put them in.  He had even gone so far as to freeze the cheese (a step asked for in the original recipe) but then forgot to incorporate it into the meatloaf.  He also made one other change: he substituted spicy Bloody Mary mix for tomato juice.  He did so because he had the Bloody Mary mix on hand.  Here’s a picture of a sandwich:

Tony served it with Potato sandwich bread.  He also brought some homemade bacon as a special treat for the group.  Also, as you can see from the pictures, maple syrup was also brought as a condiment.  Only one club member, however, took advantage of it as you can see in this picture:

The prior picture was actually a special sandwich made for him with the last piece of meatloaf.  Unfortunately, he was unable to make the meeting due to a legitimate work engagement.  Feeling that he should still be able to participate, we created that sandwich of bread, meatloaf, mayonnaise, and maple syrup.  He thought it was delicious.  I must add that Casey has a long history with maple syrup and that he is able to use it in a myriad of unique ways.  Please read this post for complete details.